The Evolution of African Americans (History Essay Sample)

/ Samples / History / The Evolution Of African Americans From Slaves To

Introduction

The African American in the United States is one of the immeasurable suffering and soaring hope. The slavery and segregation century prevented the black people from utilizing their rights as citizenship taken for granted by the White people. African Americans sought to fight for freedom during the World War II. These were a result of mistreatment and, denial for utilization of public utilities, and even denial to register as voters like the other White citizens. Many Africans-Americans were beaten while others were killed on the processes of fighting for freedom.

Discussions

The slavery abolition represented one of the greatest moral achievements in African American history. From late 1750, slavery was legal and each of the 13 American colonies permitted slavery, and before revolution period, only one colony sought to prohibit the institution. Within the half century, slavery protests become widespread (Harrelson, 2000). Columbia District there were 6,152 free Negroes compared with 6,152 slaves. In 1840, 8,361 compared with 4,694 slaves, and in 1860, 11,131 compared with only 3,185 (Harrelson, 2000). By the end of 30 years, the free colored population doubled, and slaves were half in the whole population. The free Negroes were classified in different several classes (Davidson 2008).

The brutality of the punishments levied on African Americans was unjust, but not shocking on light of the waves of petty crimes that was committed by freed slaves and their decedents. Many slaves were unable to handle the emotional complexities of freedom. The law passed intimidated the black people and compelled them from not participating in any political form. The African American stayed in labor camps and slave mines where they could work tirelessly. The judges and sheriffs who gave away convicts to giant corporate jailed mines also leased even a bigger numbers of African Americans to local farmers. Moreover, Americans encouraged their political and neighbor supporters to get more black laborers from their courtroom.

During the century, of 17th and18th, African American slaves lived in all England and North America colonies. Before the prohibition of participating in the slave trade by the Great Britain, a large number of Africans forcibly moved to North America. In 1619, due to the slavery of African, a Dutch-man of war in Virginia came up with changes on the face of American slavery to end it. The Native Americans for the labor-intensive agricultural practices, the African slave trade led to transition to an African massed slavery institution. During the transition period, however, the colonial wars against the Yamasees, Tuscarora, and numerous Indians led to the enslavement and relocations of thousands of Native Americans. The numbers of Native American slaves in some areas such as Carolinas were as much as half of those slaves in the African population. African and Native Americans slaves shared a common experience of enslavement during the transitional period. In addition, they lived together in communal quarters, even worked together in the same field, and ultimately become lovers (West, 2008). The facilitation of intermarriage between Native Americans and Africans was due disproportional of African males to females, enslavement and prolonged war.

In the America, added dimensions to resistance especially reactions to the racial characteristics of chattel slavery were added. This fundamental difference from the slaves' condition emerged gradually in Africa, although the establishment roots of racial categories started early. Resistance acts that combined indentured Irish workers and African workers did not exist, although the alliance disintegrated at the end. Slaves did not consolidate ethnic identifications on color basis, but rather understood widely that most African Americans were slaves and not whites who were slaves. Chattel slavery in America was fundamentally different from other parts of the world due to racial dimension.

Throughout the colonial period, most opposition to slavery among white Americans was virtually non-existence. The 17th and 18th century settlers came from sharply stratified societies in which the rich savagely exploited lower-class people. Lacking a later belief in generation in equality of natural human, they saw little reason to question the Africans enslavement. As they solved to mold a docile labor force, planters made a harsh decision and retrogressive measures that included liberal use of harsh punishments such as whipping.

Racial basis was one of the characteristics that set American slavery apart. All slaves were Africans and almost all Africans were slaves in America with only insignificant exceptions. This created a mark of inferiority an African American people and on their culture. It was possible in other societies for a slave who obtained freedom to take his place in his society without many problems. However, when a slave became free in America was still of concern as an African, and inferiority taint flung to him. Master of slaves gave a great deal of attention to things such as education and training of the real slave. Five general steps were followed in molding the characters of such a slave such as strict discipline, his own inferiority sense, belief in the superior power of the masters, acceptance of the standards of he master and finally deep sense of his own dependence and helpless. The education of the slave was built on the belief of superiority of the white and inferiority of the black. The master strove to inculcate his own value system into the outlook of Africans apart from educating them to abandon their own history and culture. These characters led to Africans Americans to create hatred on the white and sought to fight for freedom and independence.

By the time of Revolution in 1788, there was existence of strong hostility to the trade among the educated community. The ending of slavery and the slave trade become part of the revolutionary agenda. In 1794, after Africans Americans underwent bitter disputes between the disputes. The National Convention finally outlawed the trade. In eight years later, the greatest slave revolt success in slavery on former Guadeloupe colony, Napoleon attempted to revive the trade. He achieved Partial success and short-lived, but in most subsequent slavery history, it was allowed to eclipse the achievements of the revolutionaries.

In 1789, Maryland Abolition Society founded in 1789 extended the natural rights rule and regulations of the new nation to include African Americans (Britannica 2011.) While Maryland failed to abolish slavery, the agitation of the society caused the state legislature to loosen restrictions on the abilities of the slaves to but their own freedom and this were made it difficult to export slave from Maryland. The society also filled lawsuits in their efforts to free slaves and give them freedom that they deserved.

Republican Party was one of the Co-temporal political parties in United States, together with the Democratic Party (Harrelson, 2000). Antislavery activists formed the party. The anti-slavery expansion activists founded it in 1854, was often termed as the Grand Old Party (GOP). The Republic Party became the principle opposition of the dominant Democratic Party that first came to power in 1860 under the election of Abraham Lincoln. The party oversaw the union, destruction of slavery, and the distribution of equal rights to all people in the American civil war and reconstruction in between 1861-1877.

On 1854, Jackson, Michigan held the first convention official party. On 1856, the strong run of John C. Fremont for presidential election demonstrated it dominated most Northern states with the realignment of parties and voters in the third party-system. On 1856, the early republic ideologies the slogan of free labor, free land, and free men (Willet, 2011). Free labor meant the republic opposition to slave labor and independent artisans and executives' belief. The free land referred to opposition of republican to plantation system where the rich would buy all the good farmland and work with the slaves, leaving the yeoman independent farmers and the leftovers. The party aimed at containing the expansion of slavery that would lead to collapse of slave power and encourage the freedom to expand. Lincoln represented the western states that were growing on a higher rate won the presidency, and subsequently won the Republic nomination in 1860. The party saved the union mission and destroyed slavery during Reconstruction and American civil war. In 1864 election, it united with powerful war Democrats to vote for Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket.

In 1870s, the success of party created factionalism within the party. President Ulysses S. Grant tolerated those who felt that accomplishment of reconstruction continued to promote the large-scale corruption. Stalwarts defended Grant and the spoil system, the Half-Breeds pushed for reformation of the civil service. The Grand Old Party supported business, hard money, and high tariffs to promote growth of economy, high wages, and high profits. The Republicans supported those who demanded prohibition especially the pietistic Protestants. The Republicans promoted policies to sustain the fast growth by taking credits and as the northern post-bellum economy boomed with heavy and light industries, roads, and fast growing cities.

By 1890, the republicans made agreements to the Sherman Antitrust Act to seek response to small farmers and trade (Washington, 2005) and farmers' complaints from owners. In 1890, the high McKinley Tariff hurt the party and the democrats emerged victorious with a landslide win in the off-year elections, and defeated McKinley. McKinley promised to end high tariffs and severe problems that resulted by Panic of 1893. The Republicans parties (Washington, 2005) were created as a party of business. Roosevelt worked hard to make sure the economy raise into a point of boom.

Roosevelt ran a third party and during this time, it was as a period of Progressive Era, and challenged William Howard Taft who was his previous successor. During his period, that was around 1858-1919, he made several changes in his administration. He widely created antitrust for reform that was widely spread. Roosevelt tried to create balance between employers and employees in distribution of labor Roosevelt introduced new policies that accepted economic concentration in the industrializing economy. The main goal of the Progressive era was government purification, as it tried to undercut and expose political machines and bosses. Many African-Americans but not all supported prohibition so that to destroy the political powers which was a big challenge to the citizens. At the same period, promotion of the women's suffrage to bring a purer female vote into the arena was crucial. Many people made efforts to reform the local government, education, medical care, access to finance and many other fields. The movement operated from middle class from local levels and later expanded to state and national levels. Progressive drew support from middle class, and many teachers, lawyers, and businesspersons supported it. The progressive supported methods of scientific as applied to government, industry, schools, and even families. They closely followed advances at the Western Europe and adopted numerous policies such as banking laws that became Federal Reserve System in 1914.

Conservative democrats from south joined republicans that were led by Senator Robert Taft. They then created conservative coalition that dominated domestic issues in congress until 1964.After the civil war, the Africans blacks started to enjoy many privileges that their predecessors could only dream of freedom (Harrelson, 2000). This is the period when the blacks were accepted to vote, attend public meetings, access the financial benefits, and also utilize public services such as schools, hospitals etc. New Orleans, Louisiana, the greatest city in South desegregated its streetcars in the 1967. It began experimenting with integrated schools in 1869, legalized interracial marriages in the year between 1868 and 1896. It elected 32 black state senators and 95 representatives of the states. It also created integrated juries, public boards, and departments of police. Despite all the improvements that were made, the life of the southern blacks was much far from perfect. The design of Black Codes limited the opportunities of blacks, and they were passed into the southern part for Reconstruction. The Black Codes introduced taxes to the free blacks in order to pursue nonagricultural professions. It restricted the black's abilities to rent land or possess guns, and even allowed the children unfit parents to be apprenticed to the old slave masters. The impact was still a continuation of slavery. It was still during this period that anti-black groups such as Ku Klux Klan evolved. By the end of 1896, the situation was extremely volatile. After decades of silently enduring second class citizenship, the African Americans in 1940s and early 1950s started to challenge the injustices that the underwent for daily basis. The slaves demanded for their civil rights after fighting for along period in the world war that ended up with a change in racial segregation.

Conclusion

The original slavery opponents were deeply religious women and men who had strong believe that slavery was sinful. In the early mdi-1600s during England civil war, religious denominations arose. They condemned war and wanted to live free of sin. In addition, some people came up with different parties to challenge to end slavery and promote peace. Roosevelt during the New Deal Era was determined to end war and promote economical benefits to all citizens. The African American in the United States suffered immeasurable problems and soaring hope. The slavery and segregation century prevented the black people from utilizing their rights as citizenship taken for granted by the White people. African Americans sought to fight for freedom during the World War II. These were a result of mistreatment and, denial for utilization of public utilities, and even denial to register as voters like the other White citizens. Many Africans-Americans after a long-suffering sought to unite in order to fight for freedom.